3 Days Into Trump’s Presidency, Blatant Lies Are Coming Out of the White House

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer is using his position to utter “pants-on-fire” lies, as Trump aides embrace falsehood.

January 23, 2017

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer delivers angry remarks as he speaks in the press briefing room in Washington, DC on January 21, 2017. (Rex Features via AP Images)

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When George Orwell’s 1984 is studied in the future, reference will surely be made to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s remarkable briefing at the close of the first full day of Donald Trump’s presidency.4

Trump had been sworn in a day earlier, as a commander in chief without a mandate—a candidate who lost 54 percent of the popular vote and trailed his chief opponent by close to 3 million votes. The pretender delivered an uninspired 16-minute inaugural address to an unimpressive crowd and then paraded through the streets of a capital city where 96 percent of the electorate had rejected him, and where evidence of enthusiasm for his inauguration gave new meaning to the term “modest.”5

On the following morning, in the same capital city, the streets were filled by a crowd of Americans—conservatively estimated at more than a half-million—who had come to challenge the new administration’s policies toward women in particular and humanity in general. These Americans marched and rallied as part of a national (and global) outpouring of opposition to this president that was so dramatic that The Guardianheadlined its report: “Women’s March on Washington overshadows Trump’s first full day in office.”6

It was a nightmare scenario for the newly minted press secretary for a man whom the crowds of dissenters decried as a “minority president.” Spicer, at experienced hand at communications, could have approached the circumstance from any number of directions. Or he could simply have said nothing on a Saturday night when no one was expecting the partied-out Trump team to add anything to the narrative.7

But Trump and his aides fully recognize that the legitimacy of his presidency is in question. And they fully fear that even his supporters are beginning to question the wisdom of their 2016 choices. (While Trump won 46 percent of the vote on Election Day, the Real Clear Politics average placed his approval rating at just 41.8 percent on the eve of his inauguration—and some surveys put the number as low as 32 percent.)8

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So Spicer spoke—delivering a diatribe that surely merited the application of the often-misapplied term “Orwellian.”9

Trump’s man declared that “Yesterday, at a time when our nation and the world was watching the peaceful transition of power and, as the President said, the transition and the balance of power from Washington to the citizens of the United States, some members of the media were engaged in deliberately false reporting.”10

In other words: Don’t believe news reports that call into question the carefully constructed narrative of the new administration.11

Spicer asserted, at length, that “photographs of the inaugural proceedings were intentionally framed in a way, in one particular tweet, to minimize the enormous support that had gathered on the National Mall. This was the first time in our nation’s history that floor coverings have been used to protect the grass on the Mall. That had the effect of highlighting any areas where people were not standing, while in years past the grass eliminated this visual. This was also the first time that fencing and magnetometers went as far back on the Mall, preventing hundreds of thousands of people from being able to access the Mall as quickly as they had in inaugurations past.”12

PolitiFact: “We rate Spicer’s claim Pants on Fire.”

In other words: Don’t believe what you are seeing with your own eyes.13

“Inaccurate numbers involving crowd size were also tweeted,” Spicer continued. “No one had numbers, because the National Park Service, which controls the National Mall, does not put any out. By the way, this applies to any attempts to try to count the number of protesters today in the same fashion.”14

In other words: Don’t accept any numbers that are not provided by an “official” source, such as, say, the Trump White House.15

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Then Spicer provided numbers that were deliberately chosen to produce a false impression of Trump’s inauguration and insisted: “This was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration…” To pound in his point, Spicer added the this-ends-the-discussion assertion: “Period!”16

In short order, PolitiFact reviewed the statement and the data and headlined its report: “Donald Trump had biggest inaugural crowd ever? Metrics don’t show it.” After reviewing the multiple falsehoods uttered by the new White House press secretary, the nonpartisan fact-checking site concluded its report with the line: “We rate Spicer’s claim Pants on Fire.” As in: pants-on-fire lying.19

The following morning, an even-higher-ranking Trump apparatchik, presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway, was asked by NBC’s Meet the Press host Chuck Todd to explain “why the president asked the White House press secretary to come out in front of the podium for the first time and utter a falsehood.”20

Donald Trump’s peddlers of “alternative facts” are not mere partisans. George Orwell imagined a dystopian future in which authoritarians aspired to “reality control.” What was required of mandarins was an ability “to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies.” Trump and the members of his administration are the authoritarians that Orwell warned about.

Religions are all alternate truths. We all have our alternative truths. The space between us is filled with alternate truths. It's what separates us and destroys humanity. It's just that we all don't have lecterns or pulpits. https://thelastwhy.ca/poems/2006/11/5/truth.html

(0)(0)

Michael Laveringsays:

January 23, 2017 at 9:56 pm

Duh! What else could we expect the President won the election by telling one lie on top of another.
As the saying goes "a leopard can not change his spots". For anyone to believe that this administration is going to change tac from what got them this far is just dreaming.
The MSM gave us the flaming bag of dog S**t, therefore it is there job to stop pulling punches and call these people out: instead of countering "alt-facts as falsehoods" Chuck should have said; "Kellyanne that is a lie" don't spin, don't mince words with these people they are the biggest collection of liars to ever get this far and they need to be confronted at EVERY opportunity.

(12)(1)

Fred Carusosays:

January 23, 2017 at 4:57 pm

Chuck Todd gave Trump so much free air time, more than the other networks, and now he's trying to bang up ratings by being Mr. Toughguy with Trump. It is all a charade.

Two words describe this episode: cognitive dissonance.

(10)(4)

Fred Carusosays:

January 23, 2017 at 5:00 pm

You could say it another way, like Jesus did (although probably not the way Jesus meant it :)

"You see, and you believe. Blessed are those who do not see, and yet still believe.

(1)(3)

Bruce Grobmansays:

January 23, 2017 at 3:29 pm

"Who are you going to believe, me, or your lying eyes?"~ Groucho Marx

(20)(0)

Robert Ryleysays:

January 23, 2017 at 3:24 pm

Let me be clear that I can't stand Trump or his press secretary. However, there is something weird about the crowd photos being published to prove Trump had a substantially smaller turnout than Obama.
If you go to CNN's gigapixel view of the ceremony you will see an enormous photo which you can actually rotate. You can initially zoom in on Trump giving his speech and then rotate the same photo to see the audience which - in this photo - is full of people all the way back as far as the eye can see. The photo does not have the large empty patches of white so visible in other comparison shots. If you search on "CNN megapixel" on of the links is for the megapixel view of Trump's ceremony. I think the photos with the areas of empty space were taken earlier in the day before the ceremony began.

(3)(17)

Federico Moralessays:

January 23, 2017 at 4:16 pm

i should add to the last comment, that if you zoom in on trump, you can see that he is already giving his speech, so I'm assuming all the people who were going to show up are already there by the time of this megapixel photo. even so, there are only about half as many people as for obama.

(16)(0)

Mary Testroetesays:

January 23, 2017 at 4:14 pm

"The photo of Trump's inauguration was taken from television during his speech — peak time for the crowd."

I just looked at the gigapixel you're talking about (http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2017/01/politics/trump-inauguration-gigapixel/)... zoom in on the back parts of the crowd. It is clear that if that megapixel camera had been stationed from the vantage point of the helicopters (like all the other photos comparing 2009 to 2017 inauguration), you would be able to clearly see the giant patches of missing crowds. especially on the right side. Even the second section is only half filled. the 6th and 7th sections are also pretty empty. This is completely consistent with all the other bird's-eye-view pictures i have seen.

(16)(0)

Gil Casssays:

January 23, 2017 at 2:27 pm

Welcome thinking people everywhere. Entirely possible to have alternative facts; simply a matter of emphasis. Like having conflicts of interest that aren't (apparently) unconstitutional. Get with it.

(6)(3)

Michael Laveringsays:

January 23, 2017 at 10:08 pm

When speaking of past events: There are FACTs and there are LIES there are no grey areas in between.
When proposing a future, there are theories yet to be proved but based on sound reasoning. And there are fairy tales, which is what our President is giving us, sound good makes us all warm and fuzzy inside, but he has no intention of carrying though on most of theses and no plan or theory based on any sound reasoning or historical precedent to make the rest come true.

(1)(1)

Gail Williamssays:

January 23, 2017 at 1:47 pm

"Alternative facts!" LOL

(21)(1)

Ken Sandinsays:

January 23, 2017 at 1:39 pm

Flat-earth-birther AMERICA FIRST, by jingo!

(23)(0)

Fred Carusosays:

January 23, 2017 at 5:05 pm

Yup, you know the rural folks voted him in. And if it ain't in the local newspaper, and ain't on local TV, ain't on talk radio, well, they just don't know about it.

(6)(0)

Fred Carusosays:

January 23, 2017 at 5:07 pm

And let's not forget your local, friendly, neo-Evangelist rock and roll community church preacher. He's up on everything important :)

(7)(0)

Barry Langfordsays:

January 23, 2017 at 1:26 pm

It's key that the "organs of record" do just that, and call out lies forthrightly and without euphemism. Good to see the Times leading with "falsehoods" in the headline: establishing the (true) narrative that the Trump maladministration isn't to be trusted from the very outset will be key to ensuring that the page is turned on this dire chapter at the earliest possible opportunity (realistically, given the GOP's nihilism, the 2018 midterms which can render Trump a lame duck after just two years - actually after just 21 months).

(26)(1)

Allene Swienckowskisays:

January 23, 2017 at 1:11 pm

To use an oft media used word, "stunning" comes to mind. Are there no Congressional Republicans of good will and intent? Are they all just content to have all of the power without exerting any credibility? How very sad for those who used to be Republicans of honor who have traded honor and the right of dissent to embrace a prodigious snake oil salesman. It is truly not just a sad time for America but for the entire world that used to consider America the "big, good kid on the block that everyone could trust!"

(37)(0)

Martin Voelkersays:

January 23, 2017 at 1:02 pm

My mom told me: First impressions are important! Apparently both Trump and Spicer were abandoned at birth.

(23)(0)

Curtis Carpentersays:

January 23, 2017 at 1:01 pm

Donald Trump, perhaps remembering Nixon and Watergate, clearly fears the press -- and rightly so. His response is to follow the cliche that the best defense is a strong offense. We are in for years of this.

The real tragedy though, is that none of the Republicans in the House or Senate has had the backbone to speak out with a forceful defense of a free press, the importance of which is enshrined in the first amendment.

Thus the hypocrisy of the right, to my view, extends well beyond the office of the president.

(38)(1)

Michael Laveringsays:

January 23, 2017 at 10:18 pm

Depending on the size of the fecal tempest that will bring down this administration, could destroy Republican credibility for a generation.
I have said it before: Republicans are knee jerk, short gamers. In these case they held their noses and back the most despicable candidate ever. Had they had any decency they would have accepted 4 years of HRC while trying to find a suitable candidate for 2020.

(5)(0)

Elna Benoitsays:

January 23, 2017 at 6:50 pm

Republicans are cowards and traitors.

(5)(0)

Betsy Smithsays:

January 23, 2017 at 12:51 pm

The press let the Trump campaign get away with countless lies, and now the Trump administration assumes that it can continue to lie with impunity. Let us hope that "alternative facts" will be widely disputed and that the press will use its investigative talents, as well as the reliable fact-checking organizations, to make clear the difference between truth and lies.

(27)(0)

Stan Buchanansays:

January 23, 2017 at 12:44 pm

The difference between lies produced by Trump's minions and Orwell's is, that Trump's aren't even "carefully constructed."

(26)(0)

Charlotte E Edwardssays:

January 24, 2017 at 10:04 pm

Bingo! Are we now at war with Eastasia or Eurasia? Ignorance is Strength

(0)(0)

Federico Moralessays:

January 23, 2017 at 4:08 pm

I LOLed at this one. great.

(7)(0)

Liz Mcmastersays:

January 23, 2017 at 12:34 pm

I hope the media will stay true to their callings and call 'fake truth' the lies they are. No fudging with alternate words." A lie is a lie is a lie", my Mom used to say. Trying to make lies into just another way of looking at an issue is really bad journalism.

(26)(0)

Michael Laveringsays:

January 23, 2017 at 10:19 pm

Amen

(3)(0)

Walter Pewensays:

January 23, 2017 at 12:26 pm

If this were the movies, I'd laugh. I am reminded of the excellent "9-5" made in 1980 where Jane Fonda Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton kidnap the awful sexist boss. They have him tied up and all ask: Well, we can't keep this up forever (can we?)
Yeah, we can't keep this up forever. This is not the movies. Definitely not whatever name that "reality show was Drumpf was in. This is the real world. Have fun GOP--36 years of play acting after you hauled in your faded movie star seems to be catching up with you. Run, faster! You will be running the rest of your lives for this.....

(28)(1)

Fred Carusosays:

January 23, 2017 at 6:46 pm

Hope you are happy, Walt, with thumbs up. I got one person who gives me a thumbs down no matter what I say. Angry bird!